But there is more here to confront than the negligence of a handful
of contractors. The state must also confront the ``Big Dig culture" on Beacon Hill -- which is one of neglect and inaction, where politics is more important than governing -- because that culture created the conditions for last week's calamity.

As far back as 1998, the state inspector general issued warnings about safety issues with the tunnels. Recent flooding and falling debris provided more reasons for concern about the project's structural integrity. Questions about cost overruns have been with us even longer. Yet few elected leaders showed the least curiosity about potential design flaws or where the money went.

The failure of the Big Dig, in other words, is a failure of politics-as-usual. It is the failure of leaders to do the jobs they were elected to do. The Big Dig culture of Beacon Hill allowed corners to be cut and oversight to be lax. The culture is a failure to take the role of Government seriously.

After years of known cost overruns, leaks, defective concrete, and lax management, the buzz of activity over the past week by elected officials
is late -- too late for the Del Valle family, but hopefully not too late for the rest of us.

I think Deval is right to at least get himself out here on the Big Dig
issue. He has been almost non-existent in news coverage since the
incident. This is good and concrete and if he can demonstrate that he will
be part of a different culture on Beacon Hill that can people can believe him than this effort will be effective.

The chaos began early yesterday when an engine failed on the first
train out of Providence, canceling the train and causing a 45-minute delay that Farmelant said forced passengers who would fill 12 cars to pack into six.

The impact then rippled up the Providence-Stoughton line, as passengers were forced to wait an hour or more for a train with room.

Steve Weeks, 23, of Natick, said he let his scheduled train to Cambridge pass yesterday morning because it was full, finally arriving late to work at 10 a.m.

Later in the day, a Worcester train was delayed 35 minutes because of signal problems. An accident involving minor injuries to a pedestrian
in Concord tied up service further in the day on the Fitchburg line.

Then, CSX Corp., which owns much of the rail on the T's Worcester-Framingham line runs, lowered speed limits from 60 miles per hour to
40 miles per hour for safety reasons, because the extreme heat was expanding the steel. The slowdown, which could continue today, created 20-minute delays that ballooned throughout the afternoon commute.

Several riders on crowded trains said conductors did not try to collect fares or check T passes.The commuter railroad's contract with the
MBTA requires 333 coaches to operate out of North and South stations during peak commutes, but it acknowledged that it was down about 20 yesterday. About 77,000 passengers board the system daily.

At 4 p.m. yesterday, the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad said air conditioning wasn't working in 47 of the cars, as temperatures neared
the record high of 98 in Boston. Other coaches are in for overhauls to have their air conditioning repaired.

T officials said commuter rail lines have seen a spike in
passengers since last week’s Big Dig tunnel collapse that killed Milena
Del Valle. T spokesman Joe Pesaturo also said that ridership on commuter boats out of Hull and Quincy has nearly quardrupled from
235 to more than 800 since the tragedy. Boston’s downtown streets have also become more clogged as motorists desperately seek to circumvent the tunnel closure.

Several commuters interviewed by the Herald reported that the air conditioning wasn’t working on their train ride into the city. But Pesaturo said the agency received just 18 complaints about the air conditioning failure and stressed that mechanics are trying desperately
to keep up with the repairs.

“That’s something that happens due to the age of some our older coaches. We have the crews working day and night,” he said.